Multi-campus teams identify ways to enhance learning outcomes

The two multi-campus teams in Transforming Course Design - Developmental Math and General Chemistry, are identifying a variety of approaches to improving learning outcomes for students. One method identified
to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of instruction is to enhance
current placement tests with additional diagnostic content. For example, one
campus is concerned about students who are placed in a developmental course in
which the first several weeks covers material they already know: if they
disengage from the course during this time, they may not re-engage when the
content becomes vital to them. Some CSU institutions already use standard
disciplinary tests or software such as ALEKS for enhanced placement
information.

The teams are also using research on specific content
issues known to be challenging for students, to determine if
alternate methods would better support student learning. For example, the
General Chemistry team is studying the use of pre-lab computer tutorials to
optimize student time in laboratories, and examining research on student
understanding of troublesome topics such as Atomic Structure. For Developmental
Mathematics, the team is considering research about student misconceptions of
fundamental concepts in Algebra and what is known about how to best debug them.